US, China defence chiefs hold talks on sidelines of ASEAN gathering

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has discussed with his Chinese counterpart, General Wei Fenghe, the need to improve crisis communication between the two major powers.

For the second time of the year both met face-to-face on Tuesday on the sidelines of an ASEAN defence ministers' gathering in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The meeting that was not expected to lead to major breakthroughs but could touch on the importance of crisis communication and their opposing views on Taiwan, said US official.

This is their first meeting since the visit of Nancy Pelosi, US House Speaker, to Taiwan in August that enraged China.

Important step

Earlier US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a three-hour meeting  on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia, aimed at preventing strained ties from spilling into a new Cold War.

Despite the differences between both nations the countries' military officials have long sought to maintain open lines of communication to mitigate the risk of potential flare-ups.

After the June meeting, the Pentagon chief said his talks with his Chinese counterpart were an important step in efforts to develop those means of communication.

The two largest economies have been in tense political relationship over everything from Taiwan and human rights issues to Chinese military activity in the South China Sea.

Pelosi's Taiwan visit made China furious and saw it as a US attempt to meddle in its internal affairs. 

China subsequently launched military drills near the self-ruled island.

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